The decision by former Mayor Richard Riordan last week to suspend his pension reform campaign continued to resonate at City Hall as a city union took one last blast at the former mayor.

SEIU Local 721, one of the city's major employee unions, divulged one of its anti-Riordan campaign strategies last week when it said more than 10,000 people who signed the Riordan petition later asked to have their names withdrawn.

To no one's surprise, a number of those people were city workers.

While none signed with false names and addresses - as had been suggested in a disputed campaign memo - it still would have presented a problem for Riordan in trying to qualify his measure for the ballot.

Riordan's aides estimated he had spent $500,000 and had collected about 100,000 of the 265,000 signatures needed. He suspended the campaign because of the difficulty in getting all the signatures by the end of this month to qualify for the ballot.

With no pension ballot initiative to fight, the unions can re-focus their energy and their money on the races for mayor, controller, city attorney and the City Council. In all, nine of the 15 City Council seats will be decided this coming year.

"We are more freed up now," said one union official. "We can start taking a closer look at the races."

City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti have been working the hardest to win union support, while Councilwoman Jan Perry has been campaigning on her independent views in dealing with the workers. Kevin James, the former federal prosecutor and radio talk show host, has been critical of the city unions.

Decisions on the races are expected after the first of the year when the holidays are over and the tight campaign window for the March 5 primary election opens.

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One City Council candidate looking to go against the unions is Steve Presberg, who is running to succeed Councilman Dennis Zine in the 3rd District in the San Fernando Valley.

With the unions scheduling candidate interviews, Presberg - who worked on the City Charter reform staff and in the City Attorney's Office - sent out a letter last week saying he wanted to interview the unions.

Before deciding whether to participate in the evaluations, Presberg said he wanted to know where the unions stood on pension reform and the decision by fellow 3rd District candidate Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield to run for both the state Assembly - he won easily - and the council.

Presberg campaign officials said they believe they have nothing to lose since it is likely that Blumenfield will capture the unions' endorsements.

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The battle over Los Angeles sidewalk repair suffered a loss last year in Sacramento, but it might be coming back.

A measure by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar, would have required the city to continue to be responsible for sidewalk repair, a policy with a price tag of $1.5 billion and climbing.

City lobbyists were able to so water down the Fuentes proposal in the final days of this year's legislative session that it had no real impact. But it did help him build a strong base of support as he runs for the City Council seat being vacated by Councilman Richard Alarcón.

The measure is now being revived by Blumenfield, who is trying to tweak it to overcome city opposition.

Blumenfield said his proposal is different from Fuentes' in that it does not trigger a funding mandate.

"What I am proposing would require the city to go to the voters and ask them to approve any change in the sidewalk policy we have had in effect since 1974," Blumenfield said. "I think before there is such a massive change in policy, the people ought to be asked to decide the issue."

Of course, if he is elected to the City Council, it could be a proposal that he will live to regret in trying to balance a city budget expected to be $200 million in the hole this coming year.

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Congressman-elect Tony Cardenas has a long and ambitious wish list as he prepares to take office next month.

He has told leaders he hopes to be named to the Energy and Commerce and the Financial Services committees - areas he has dealt with as a council member and state legislator.

Cardenas also is asking for a waiver to allow him to work with the Judiciary Committee to address juvenile justice issues.